On the fifth day of the Israel-Gaza conflict, a disturbing video emerged, revealing how Hamas is using Israeli hostages, including children. The video, which Hamas broadcast live, depicts a heartbreaking scene in which a gunman forces a family to convey a message while a man, bleeding from a leg wound, sits beside his wife, holding a young girl in her lap. Two other kids sit on either side of the distraught couple, with a sobbing girl muffling her sobs.
"Talk to your country, tell them we are here," the gunman instructs the man, who discloses that Hamas operatives are present in their home in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza. Gazing into the camera, the injured man reveals he has been shot in the leg.
A Hamas operative requests the man's identity card, and when he mentions the need to stand up to retrieve it, one of the captors helps him to his feet, revealing the profusely bleeding wound on his leg.
The video further shows the gunmen coercing the couple's son, at gunpoint, to convince other residents in the neighbourhood to evacuate their homes.
The following visuals of the incident could be disturbing. Viewers' discretion advised.
According to media reports, Hamas currently holds approximately 150 hostages, including children and a Holocaust survivor, and has issued a chilling ultimatum, promising to execute a hostage for every Israeli bomb dropped on a civilian residence in the Gaza Strip without warning.
Following Israel's imposition of a blockade on the Gaza Strip, which cut off essential utilities like electricity and water, as well as preventing the entry of food and fuel into the densely populated area of 2.3 million people, Hamas issued this chilling warning.
Despite the potential for unpopularity as a result of hostage deaths, the Israeli government has no plans to scale back its extensive military campaign against Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has compared Hamas to ISIS and stated that Israel's actions mark the start of a long-term effort to eliminate the group and bring about change in the Middle East.
"Hamas terrorists bound, burned, and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS," Netanyahu declared.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also adopted a resolute stance when addressing troops stationed along the Gaza border on Tuesday, asserting that all restraints have been removed, and Gaza will undergo an irreversible transformation.
"You will have the capacity to alter the situation here. You have witnessed the prices (being paid), and you will witness the change. Hamas sought a change in Gaza; it will change by 180 degrees from what it envisioned," quoted The Times of Israel.
The ongoing deadly conflict has led to a substantial loss of life, with at least 3,000 people killed. The conflict ignited after Hamas fired 5,000 rockets into Israel and initiated a multi-pronged attack on the country from air, land, and sea on Saturday.